Participants of various sports use elbow guards and other protective gear for preventing potential injuries characteristic of the sport. For instance, baseball players often wear an elbow guard on the elbow that faces toward the pitcher while the player is batting. The elbow guard is designed to protect the elbow joint, particularly the bones at the elbow joint, which are not protected by muscle, from injuries resulting from being struck by the baseball.
One conventional elbow guard includes a padding element sewn or otherwise affixed to one or more elastic straps, hook and loop fastened straps, or other desired straps. These elastic straps are typically intended to stretch against the user's upper arm and forearm for the purpose of securing the elbow pad to the participant's arm. Similarly, the hook and loop straps wrap around the participant's arm so as to secure the elbow pad to the arm. The straps wrapped around a player's arm, however, may be uncomfortable for some players.
In other known elbow guards, the padding element is permanently integrated into a garment that the player wears. For example, the padding element may be sewn into a shirt or a compression sleeve.
While an elbow pad is desirable while the player is batting, the elbow guard may be cumbersome when the player is running, throwing, or fielding. During a baseball game, however, there is limited time for a player to remove the straps or garments to which the padding element is attached. Thus, the player may be forced to play an entire game with the elbow guard to receive protection for the limited instances in which the player is batting.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an elbow guard that may be quickly and easily attached and removed from a player, and which may be comfortably worn by the player.